


Slow and Steady

by b4dw0lfgirl



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Background Relationships, Bisexual Female Character, F/F, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Jealousy, Lesbian Character of Color, Romance, Same-Sex Marriage, Time Skips, im sorry for weird spelling im american, kisses in the snow, sorry for sucky writing or spelling mistakes I wrote this in a day and didn't edit, they both die in the end but it's okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-28
Updated: 2015-11-28
Packaged: 2018-05-03 17:19:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5299844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/b4dw0lfgirl/pseuds/b4dw0lfgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It takes Parvati years to realize that she was in love with her best friend. It took her even longer to act on it.</p><p>(Used to be Purple Is My Favorite Color)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Slow and Steady

**1991 ******

Parvati had never imagined that she would be sorted into a different house than her sister. Of course, she had heard vague rumors about cousins or siblings being in different houses, but never identical twins.

She pulled the frayed Sorting Hat off her head and stumbled towards the table beneath the red and gold banner, sitting in the first empty seat she saw. That seat happened to be next to a girl with short, curly, blond hair that would not be contained by her mandatory black hat.

“I’m Parvati,” she said, hoping to make at least one friend in her own house (the people she sat by in the train were all in Ravenclaw, sitting right next to her sister.)

“Lavender.”

  


**1993**

Parvati and Lavender discovered Divination their third year. They both immediately fell in love with the art of finding meanings and telling the future based on what nature decided to tell someone.

“You know what I decided?” Lavender asked Parvati when they were doing Divination homework in the common room one night.

“What?” Parvati immediately asked, grateful for any distraction (it may have been her favorite subject, but it was still homework.)

“I’m going to teach this at Hogwarts when I grow up.”

Parvati was about to object that that’s what she wanted to do, but realized how much it made Lavender’s eyes sparkle and just went back to completing her star chart. 

  


Two months later and Lavender was still upset over the death of her rabbit, Binky. Parvati hated seeing her upset, so on the next Hogsmeade trip, Parvati slipped away from the clothes store to go to the pet shop. She picked out a snow-white bunny. Lavender smiled and hugged Parvati when she surprised her with it.

“Oh, thank you so much Parvi!”

Parvati smiled and shrugged, “What are friends for?”

“You know what I’m going to name her?”

“What?”

“Parvati.”

“Won’t that get confusing?”

  


**1994 ******

Parvati was there when Seamus asked her best friend to the Yule Ball.  
“Hey Lavender, Parvati,” he greeted, sounding more awkward than he usually did the thousand other times they talked, which made his accent even stronger.

“Hi,” they said in unison, glancing at each other with furrowed eyebrows, exchanging intrigued looks.

“So, Lavender,” Seamus started (he must have known it was useless to try to talk to Lavender without Parvati there), “you know how the Yule Ball’s coming up.”

“Yeah…”

“I was, I was wondering if you’d like to go. With me.”

Lavender smiled “I’d like that, yeah.”

That was when Parvati felt an odd sensation in her chest. She wanted so badly to hurt Seamus, to make sure he was in the Hospital Wing instead of the ball with her best friend. Lavender was Parvati’s and no one else’s. Her gut twisted in her rage and she was horrified by it, but had no way of making it stop.

She was still mad a week later when Harry came up to her and asked her to the ball, so she said she would without even thinking first. 

  


And it was at the ball that a slow dance came on. She looked over at Harry, her date, who completely ignored her. So Parvati searched the dance floor for someone to dance with.

She briefly locked eyes with Lavender, and her stomach flopped over. Before she knew it, Parvati was walking over to her best friend. She was halfway across the dance floor that she realized Seamus was with her. She was three quarters way across when she noticed Dean was also with them, and was lacking a date. By the same she got there, Parvati was able to convince herself that she originally came over to dance with Dean. 

  


**1996 ******

Parvati Patil had never hated Ron Weasley more.

He had stolen her best friend from her, who only bothered to spend her time snogging his face off, instead of gossiping and spending time with Parvati.

Luckily, Hermione was just as annoyed by their relationship as Parvati. Sometimes when Lavender was out with Ron, Parvati and Hermione planned ways to get them to break up. Hypothetically, of course.

Soon, Parvati’s blood boiled whenever she saw that freckled redhead. But, oddly enough, she could never stay mad at Lavender, no matter how hard she tried. 

  


**1997 ******

It was on Christmas Eve when it happened.

Both Lavender and Parvati had decided to stay at Hogwarts for winter break. Lavender’s parents were in America, looking for work away from the rein of You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters. They didn’t have enough money to bring Lavender to their new home except for over the summer. So, Parvati has sworn to stay at Hogwarts with her during the holiday, so she wouldn’t be all alone.

There had been a severe lack of precipitation that winter, which meant no snow. Both the girls were extremely upset about this, as it was their favorite kind of weather.

That’s why, on the morning before Christmas, Parvati was woken up by Lavender, who was squealing and jumping up and down in her fleece pajamas.

It took Parvati a few seconds to register the white landscape outside, but she was wide awake as soon as she did.

“It’s snowing!” she screamed, happy that Hermione had went home for the holidays.

“Come on, come on, come on! Let’s go!” Lavender urged. They both bundled up in as many layers as they owned and were still able to move in.

Parvati grabbed her and Lavender’s brand-new ice skates that she had gotten in Hogsmeade before break, as Parvati wanted to show her best friend the tradition.

Once they got outside they both laced up the skates, and Parvati glided onto the lake with no problem. She noticed Lavender standing tentatively by the edge, and skated over.

Parvati grabbed Lavender’s hands and helped her start at a steady pace. It was like how her mom (a muggleborn) showed her brother how to ride a bike for the first time. Parvati slowly let go of Lavender’s hand, and she began skating all on her own. She was really a natural.

Then, Lavender grabbed Parvati’s hand again, even though they both knew she didn’t need it. They skated in circles and figure-eights over the ice, trying to spot the giant squid at the bottom. Parvati couldn’t stop smiling.

Then they both stopped, and faced each other in the middle of the lake. They were both Gryffindors. They were both brave. God, Parvati had been waiting for this moment for years. A moment to take her bravery to a whole new level.

Parvati kissed Lavender. For a fraction of a second, Lavender didn’t move, and Parvati regret it with all her heart. Why did she have to be so stupid? Let stupid feelings get in the way of her friendship. Parvati started to pull away, coming up with various excuses (“I’m addicted to drugs and I thought you had cocaine on your lips”).

But Lavender pulled her back, her hand on Parvati’s cheek. Lavender wiggled her tongue around and through Parvati’s chapped lips, wetting them. Parvati lightly bit on Lavender’s bottom lip as she kissed back passionately. Lavender tasted like cinnamon and peppermint, which only made Parvati want more of her. Parvati had her hands wrapped around Lavender’s waist, her body pulled in as close as she could with their giant jackets.

When they finally pulled apart, it was because they were too cold to keep standing out there in the snow.

“Race you in,” Lavender said, knowing they were both out of breath. Still, they both sprinted off, holding hands. 

  


**1998 ******

They mostly kept their relationship under wraps, but they weren’t trying to hide it. Parvati just wasn’t a big fan of PDA (the Ron Weasley situation hadn’t helped much). But they still held hands and acted couple-y around their friends.

Lavender was Parvati’s only joy in these dark times. The Carrows, who had gotten much worse after Christmas break, always brought her to tears (luckily she had an amazing girlfriend who agreed with her), and Hogwarts as she knew it was something entirely different.

One by one, students from the Gryffindor house got expelled, and Parvati was more than terrified that it would happen to Lavender – she didn’t know what she would do. But it was Parvati who first got expelled. It was one of the Carrows who made a rude comment about Lavender that made her stand up and start curing the professor out. It was only her first offense, but the Carrows were more than done with Gryffindors.

Parvati was packing up her things and ready to go when she realized she forgot her wand in the common room. It was there that she ran into Dean, who had been expelled a month beforehand. He showed her the room that everyone had been gathering in, and she almost cried of happiness. The next day she saw Lavender walking gloomily along the hallway, and pulled her into the room. 

  


A few months later, chaos ensued. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had come back, accompanied by an army of Death Eaters after them.

Lavender and Parvati agreed to help with no hesitation – they weren’t Gryffindors for nothing – they were actually very eager to actually fight back.

During the battle, Parvati made a point to always fight by Lavander, side-by-side or back-to-back, it didn’t matter. Parvati just knew that she would be okay as long as her girlfriend was with her.

They only separated once. Parvati saw her sister being cornered by a masked Death Eater. She shot a spell at him, and the red beam hit him square in the back. When she turned around, Lavender was gone. She ran to the Great Hall as quickly as she could.

Parvati saw it in slow motion. Fenir Greyback biting into her neck, clawing at all of the beautiful, smooth skin he could find, making red with blood. Once he was satisfied, Greyback stood up, still in human form and grinned sadistically at Parvati before running off to a different section of the castle.

“Lavender!” Parvati cried out, running to the abandoned, bleeding body. She checked Lavender’s pulse. Weak, but still there.

“Parvati,” Lavender whispered. “I love you.”

“Oh, Lavender, I love you more than you could ever know. Please don’t leave me.”

There was an announcement. Attend to the dead. Give Harry Potter over. Attend to the dead. One hour. Attend to the dead. The dead did not include Lavender. And Parvati would make sure of it.

She tried casting a variety of different spells, to stop bleeding, to aid breathing, anything that could keep Lavender alive. She wasn’t very good, but it was all she could do.

And by some miracle she survived. When healers came, she was one of the first to be treated. It was tough and stressful and the worst hour of Parvati’s life, but Lavender survived. 

  


**1999**

Parvati and Lavender had an apartment in London together. Parvati worked at the ministry of magic, and Lavender worked at a day school for wizards and witches just getting their powers. They couldn’t be happier. 

  


**2001 ******

It seemed to be the year for weddings. Parvati and Lavender got invited to so many from their old Hogwarts friends.

Harry and Ginny’s wedding was Parvati’s favorite. It was very low key, with only friends and immediate family. It was gorgeous and personal and Parvati loved it (she was a hopeless romantic, what can she say?).

Hermione and Ron’s wedding was Lavender’s favorite. Mostly because a drunk Ron tried to set Parvati up with one of his many cousins. Hermione looked like she was already regretting her decision to marry him as she mouthed “sorry” over her husband’s shoulder.

2001 was also the year that the Ministry of Magic legalized same-sex marriage. Lavender and Parvati had been planning their wedding practically since they got out of Hogwarts, so their engagement only lasted a few months before the big day.

And it was the best day of Parvati’s life. She and Lavender walked towards each other in diagonal aisles with the crowd in the middle, their dresses each as beautiful and unique as the other. As she walked down, Parvati saw Padma out of the corner of her eye. Her parents were there too, even though they refused to come when Parvati first told them about the engagement.

When she got up to the altar, Lavender gave her an excited smile, which Parvati returned. It was a breeze of words and tears and confessions of love, and Parvati couldn’t believe it when she heard the words: “I now pronounce you wife and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

  


**2007**

There was a special adoption program for children of wizards and/or witches, so they didn’t terrify unsuspecting muggles when they started to show their powers. Two years ago, Lavender and Parvati had registered to become parents. It was an early June day that they got the letter.

It was six months later when their beautiful baby girl was born, courtesy of Dennis Creevey and Gabrielle Delacour. 

  


**2018**

Lavender and Parvati mulled around platform 9 and three-quarters, looking for familiar faces. Parvati steered Samantha towards the direction of the train, and Lavender carried her trunk and screech owl (Parvati could see why it was called that).

After a few minutes of searching and walking around the familiar platform, Parvati spotted three familiar redheads. She steered the family in the direction of their Hogwarts friends.

Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Luna, and presumably her husband were all there, chatting as the kids goofed around each other.

“Hi guys!” Lavender said as they walked up. Greetings were thrown around all at once, and Parvati tried hard to distinguish one “Hello” from another “How are you?” to no avail.

“This is Samantha. This is going to be her first year at Hogwarts,” Parvati introduced. She and Lavender had gone out with their old friends a few times before, but they had always left her with a babysitter.

“This is Hugo’s first year, too!” Hermione said.

“And Lily’s,” Harry added.

“What about everyone else?” Parvati asked.

“I’m James,” said a redheaded boy. “It’s my fourth year.”

“Albus,” Harry’s clone said. The choice of name made Parvati flicker her eyes up to Harry in disgust. “It’s my third year.”

“And Lily is…” Ginny searched for the last child, who was hiding behind Harry’s legs. “Over here,” Ginny finished.

“I’m Rose,” a curly redhead introduced with an air of confidence that meant she could only be Hermione’s daughter. “It’s also my third year.”

A terrified brunette was next. “My name’s Hugo. It’s my first year.” Parvati heard Lavender chuckle as she noticed Hugo purposely lower his voice.

“And this is Lorcan and Lystander. It’s their second year,” the dreamy-voiced Luna introduced the identical boys. Parvati glanced at her wife with raised eyebrows. 

  


**2144**

Lavender took her last breath in her bedroom, Parvati lying by her side. They were both asleep. Parvati took hers a few minutes later. She just couldn’t live without Lavender.


End file.
